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This study examines financial constraints of Michigan and Indiana firms before and after the two states enacted Right-to-Work laws in 2012 relative to those in states with and without RTW laws as separate control groups. Findings based on difference-in-difference regressions indicate that, on average, financial constraints of Michigan and Indiana firms were significantly higher than those in both the control groups before the RTW laws were enacted, but the constraints declined significantly after the laws were enacted not only relative to the pre-enactment levels but also relative to those of companies in both the control groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR)‐based climate dataset of wind and Pasquill stability class is developed for the North American Great Lakes region. Motivated by the need to update the limited wind and Pasquill stability class climatology previously incorporated into a livestock odour nuisance‐mitigation application used in Michigan, this study is motivated more generally by the lack of a long‐term climate dataset suitable for studies of atmospheric dispersion in the Great Lakes region. As a preliminary step, NARR 10‐m wind speed, 10‐m wind direction, and 2‐m temperature are evaluated at eight weather stations in Michigan and northern Indiana, and the wind speed variable is subsequently bias‐corrected. To derive a Pasquill stability class dataset from the NARR variables, an existing empirical relationship between Pasquill stability class and Richardson number is applied to a previously developed NARR‐derived Richardson number dataset covering the period 1979–2008. Pasquill stability class frequency in NARR is subsequently evaluated using observations at two flux towers in Illinois. Although a tendency is noted for the NARR‐derived Pasquill stability class dataset to underestimate the frequency of stable and unstable conditions, and overestimate the frequency of neutral conditions, the analysis shows that the 10‐m wind speed bias‐correction procedure yields a frequency distribution that is in better agreement with the observations than the non‐bias‐corrected dataset. Finally, an analysis of the spatial and temporal variability of livestock odour dispersion potential in Michigan is provided as an example application of the NARR‐based wind and Pasquill stability class climate dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance of Michigan and Indiana companies before and after they passed the Right-to-Work (RTW) laws in 2012 by referencing it against that of companies in states with and without RTW laws. Our findings indicate that after the laws were passed the Environmental and Social performance of companies in these two states declined on the compliance dimension and so did some of their Social performance on the proactive dimension. Outside of some of the common trends in the ESG performance of companies in states with and without RTW laws, the Social performance of companies in states without RTW laws declined on the proactive dimension as well after the laws were passed. Performance pertaining to Governance was unaffected for companies after the enactments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]